By Your Side
by Million Candles
Summary: Sarah Braverman/Mark Cyr focused. Filling in the conversations, scenes we didn't get to see . . . and adding a bit more.


**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I loved the story of Sarah and Mark, as short as it was, and wanted to fill in some of the holes of what we didn't get to see. Plus, add a little to their story as well. I still live in hope that they'll keep their date in two years. : )**

I own nothing - no copyright infringement intended.

Chapter 1. "Today's Been Okay"

Starts from a scene in "The Big O" . . . Mark walks in looking for Sarah at Whiskey Mike's.

_"Hey."_

_"Hi."_

_Sarah stands up. "Hey."_

_"Hi. I-I-I was just... I've been thinking about the note."_

_"I know. I'm sorry."_

_"No need to apologize. I think you're right. Maybe it was a little too complicated. I mean, three options is a lot of options. That's... That's overwhelming. I understand."_

_"Yeah. I'm just not good with multiple choice."_

_"No, no, this is... this is my fault. I mean, these choices are ridiculous. Maybe...what's that all about? That's not a real choice."_

_"Confusing."_

_"I don't know what I was thinking. I was just trying to write something. So I was thinking I should just be more direct, um, next time."_

_Mark tenderly kisses Sarah. She responds immediately and moves closer to him, but he pulls away and looks her directly in the eyes._

_"Will you go out with me?"_

_Sarah hesitates for a moment, while Mark's heart skips a beat. She then takes the note back out of his hand and marks the 'YES' box with a huge X. Mark looks and smiles._

_"That is the correct answer."_

_They both grin widely and then look at each other again._

_"Okay, I-I won't interrupt you anymore." Mark walks out of the restaurant, but can't help to give one last look back at Sarah._

Sarah sat there in the booth smiling and tapping her pencil. She could still taste Mark's kiss on her lips and her thoughts centered on kissing him again. Soon. Their kiss had been short, but his lips were so soft that she had found herself leaning into him lost in the moment . . .

"Sarah, finish cashing out! It's time to lock up and blow this joint. I gotta go home soon."

"Sorry, John, I got a little distracted." Sarah gave a wry smile to her fellow bartender and got busy with the adding machine again.

"Yeah, I saw your distraction. He stole a kiss . . . smooth! Customers seem to really like you around here." He winked at Sarah and she blushed because he had seen what happened with Mark.

She quickly finished her tasks and bounced out to her home, she began to panic. What was she thinking? She had agreed to a date with Mr. Cyr. Amber's teacher. Who was _so_ much younger than she was. This couldn't be a good idea. Hadn't she added the 'It's Complicated' box to his choices for a reason? But when he was standing in front of her with those soulful eyes and kissing her with those soft lips, butterflies had flown around her stomach and all reason had gone out the window. So she had checked the 'Yes' box this time. Now, an hour later, all of her insecurities began to rear their ugly heads again. What on earth did this young, smart, handsome, educated teacher see in her anyhow? He was sure to get bored with her quickly. For the millionth time in the last couple of months, she cursed the fact that she had gotten herself into a position which made it necessary for her to live with her parents. It was so embarrassing. As she parked her car in the Braverman driveway, she was also sure she was a terrible mother because there was no doubt that Amber would be uncomfortable (at the very least) with her going out on a date with Mr. Cyr.

"Mark." she whispered to herself as she unlocked the door to Zeek's old office behind the house. "I've got to get used to calling him Mark now." She smiled to herself because she liked the sound of saying his first name. As she set down her purse, it began to buzz. She pulled out her phone, sure that it was either Crosby or Julia texting her, because they were generally the only ones who did. However, she didn't recognize the number when she first opened the phone.

_**Hi. It's Mark. I hope it's okay to text you. I got your number from Amber's emergency contact card at school.**_Sarah dropped her phone on the chair next to her and stared at it. Color rose in her cheeks and her hand flew to her hair because she unreasonably felt like he could see her through the phone. Sanity returned, and she smiled and picked up the cell again. Mark was texting her . . . and the butterflies were back. With jittery hands, she replied:

_**Hi! It's definitely okay. So, how are you?**_"Real smooth, Sarah." she muttered to herself after she had pressed the 'send' button. "Could I be any more boring?" As she waited for him to reply, she reflected how the tummy butterflies clearly made her a mundane conversationalist. She jumped when her phone buzzed again.

_**I'm great. I'm better than great. I kissed a beautiful woman tonight. And she agreed to go out with me.**_Sarah blushed and smiled. "He's good," she whispered as she dreamily wrote back.

_**Me too.**_"Oh no!" she cried. "Delete! Delete!" That's not what she meant to say. But it was too late, the text had been sent. She quickly sent another one.

_**I mean, I'm great too. Not that I kissed a woman too. I mean, I kissed you. And it was great.**_Sarah cringed as she sent the text. Only she could manage to ramble so incoherently on a tiny, tiny Keyboard.

In his apartment, Mark laughed and shook his head as he read her texts. She was just too adorable for words. He still couldn't believe his luck that he had found her.

_**I understand, Sarah, and I'm so happy you're great as well. Listen, I don't usually text but it's late and I didn't want to bother you in case you were tired from work. I wanted to ask you something, though. And I wanted to let you know I am still thinking about that kiss.**_Sarah blushed again.

_**I'm glad you texted. What did you want to ask?**_

**Well, I was wondering if you would like to get together on Sunday to plan our date. Maybe we could take a walk? There's a really pretty park by the high school.**

Sarah immediately began thinking up excuses to tell her family about why she needed to go out for a bit on Sunday.

_**Yes, I would love to. What time?**_Sarah grinned. So part of the reason he had texted was because he was nervous. Well, he wasn't the only one.

I'll be brave enough to actually call you tomorrow and we can make concrete plans then.

_**Looking forward to that call. And seeing here. And Sarah, I hope I get to kiss you again sometime. Soon.**_Sarah's stomach did a flip.

_**I hope that too.**_In a daze, Sarah set down her phone, put on her pajamas, and brushed her teeth. She climbed under the covers and could not stop grinning. All she could think of was Mark coming into the bar a couple of days ago and telling her that he really liked her. And then today he sought her out and didn't let her get away with her "It's complicated" response. As she drifted off to sleep, she giggled as she remembered him saying, "I like your sea horse."

Have sweet dreams and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Good night. Sleep well.

Mark stared at his phone for awhile. It had been a good night. Sarah had been on his mind so much lately, especially after she had come to his classroom to talk about Amber's paper. She was just so beautiful, standing there with her glittery blue eyes and shiny dark hair. And her laughter was music to his ears. He had been instantly attracted to her when they first met over a piece of nicotine gum, but he knew his feelings were strong the minute she walked into his classroom a couple days later. However, he had planned to do nothing about it because he took his job seriously and knew that dating a student's mom could be a tricky situation. But then Amber told him that her mother had written the paper on _The Sound and the Fury_ and he knew he had to see her again. There were just too many wonderful characteristics about her to stay away. He was knocked out by her beauty, but the paper gave an insight to her soul that made him feel close and connected to her. Combined with the physical attraction, he knew he had to pursue this somehow. When he went to Whiskey Mike's the first time, it was with the intention to get to know her better. She was charming, flirty, and crazy beautiful as she teased him about his driver's license. He went home that night with his head and heart full of this lovely woman. Seeing her last Monday morning for a brief moment at school, as she dropped off Amber, he knew he had to find a way to take a shot and ask her out . . . because just her smile from the car completely brightened his spirits. So, after work he went back to Whiskey Mike's and rambled and stumbled and probably made a fool of himself as he declared his romantic feelings for her. BUT. She smiled back. And joked with him. And took the paper. And made him laugh as he left. That night he left with hope in his heart that she would respond positively. He was a bit devastated when he found the note in his mailbox two days later in the office at school (sealed in a plain envelope with just his name on it). She had written 'IT'S COMPLICATED' and put an X by it. He understood. He was sure it due to Amber. However, he felt so strongly for her he wasn't going to let her go . . . because she hadn't marked 'NO'. He was sure they could work through the Amber issue. He took another risk and went again to the bar tonight. And kissed her. He smiled when he thought of her response, because he could have sat her back on one of the tables and fully made out with her for hours . . . she had so sweetly and passionately kissed him back. But he wanted to do this right - he didn't want a make-out buddy. He wanted to enter into a romantic relationship with Sarah, so he had needed to make a date official. When she marked the paper 'YES' this time, he had wanted to jump for joy. As a matter of fact, when he walked out of the restaurant, he did. He simply couldn't wait to talk to her again to make plans, so he texted her. And now, he was going to see her again soon. "I really hope this works," he whispered to himself as he went to sleep. His last thought was of how Sarah's bright blue sparkling eyes looked right after he kissed her.


End file.
